Printed newspapers will probably survive for a decade before being largely replaced by digital news, according to James Tyree, who led the October buyout of the Chicago Sun-Times's publisher.

Tyree is chief executive of investment firm Mesirow Financial, which owns Sun-Times Media Holdings, publisher of eight dailies in Illinois and Indiana. It filed for bankruptcy protection in March 2009 with a debt of $801m (£525m).

He believes that newspapers will have to offer more original online content, such as in-depth sports and regional political coverage.

Tyree said he hopes to update the Sun-Times website with more photos, colour and stories of local interest, including regional business news. He has no plans to charge readers for online access.

The Chicago Sun-Times's average weekday circulation declined 12% to 275,641 in the six months up to September last year.